Sighting device for bows and arrows



NOV. 13, STIEBER SIGHTING DEVICE FOR BOWS AND ARROWS Filed April 28,1947 2 SHEETSSHEET l Patented Nov. 13, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICESIGHTIN G DEVICE FOR BOWS AND ARROWS 4 Claims.

My invention relates to a novel sighting device and range finder for useon archery bows and the-like.

An important object of my invention is the provision of a plurality ofgauge-acting sighting apertures. associated with the intermediateportion of the bow and which are generally longitudinally spaced withrespect to the bow and of progressively smaller size from the upper tothe lowermost thereof. These gauge-acting sighting apertures, whenassociated with indicia, indicating progressively greater distances, maybe effectively used as sighting and range finding apertures when usedin. locating a target of a given size.

Another highly important object of my invention is to provide a sightwhich will automatically allow for veerage or lateral deflection of thearrow in its flight.

Another object of my invention is to provide a sighting device which isadjustable in any direction to compensate for various bowcharacteristics and also to compensate for weakening of a bow-after.long periods of use.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of an adjustablesightingbead on the bow string which, when utilized in cooperation withmy novel sighting means, will greatly increase the efficiency andaccuracy of. the archer.

A still. further object ofmy invention is the provision of a novelsighting plate incorporating my novel arrangement together with novelmeans for adjustably anchoring the same to a bow.

A still further object of my invention is the provision of a sightingmeans and range finder for archery bows and the like which. isinexpensive to manufacture, rugged in construction, and durable inuse.

The above and still further objects and advantages of my invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed specification, appendedclaims, and attached drawings.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like characters indicate like partsthroughout the several views:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatical, View of the relative directions of the lineof sight and the flight of the arrow when utilizing my novel sightingarrangement;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary perspectivev diagramma-tical view showing a. bowand arrow having secured thereto the preferred embodiment of myinvention;

Fig. 3' is a rear elevation of. the; intermediate portion of thestructure of Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale, some parts being broken away;

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary side elevation of the parts shown in Fig. 3 on astill further enlarged scale;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged transverse section taken on the line 55 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective of the anchoringbracket of my sightingdevice;

Fig. 7 is a front elevation of a sighting plate incorporating a modifiedembodiment of my invention; and

Fig. 8 is an enlarged View in section, taken on the line 88 of Fig. 7.

Referring with great particularity to the drawings, the numeral iindicates, in its entirety, a conventional archery bow having anintermediate portion or bow handle 2, and a bow string- 3 secured toopposite ends thereof. An anchoring bracket 4, having spacedlongitudinally-extended slots 5, is provided at its opposite ends withcfiset mounting feet 5 which are adapted to rest upon the forwardsurface l of the bow 5 immediately above the bow handle 2. The anchoringbracket l may be fastened to the bow by any suitable means but, asshown, is fastened thereto by means of bands 8 of any suitable materialsuch as adhesive tape. The anchoring bracket 4 is provided with aplurality of longitudinally-extending laterally-spaced parallel markinggrooves 9 adjacent one edge thereof and is provided with a plurality oflongitudinally-spaced laterally-extending parallel marking grooves If]adjacent the lower end portion thereof.

A sighting plate H is provided with a pair of open-ended slots 52 whichextend i wardly from one side edge thereof. pair of headed mountingscrews 13 extend outwardly through the slots 5 in the anchoring bracketand the slots E2 in the sighting plate ii, for adjustably locking thesighting plate H to the anchoring bracket 4, and are provided withwasher-equipped knurled thumb nuts 14. A slot-engaging shank portion IEon the screws 23, immediately under the heads thereof, are seated in theslots 5 of the anchoring bracket 6 to prevent the mounting screws fromturning when the thumb nuts it are tightened thereon.

It will be observed that the laterally-projecting side edge It of thesighting plate H is provided with a plurality of open-endedvertically-spaced gauge-acting sighting slots H, the distance betweenthe side edges of which decreases progres-v sively from the uppermostthereof to the lowermost. At its intermediate portion, the plate It isprovided with vertically-spaced distance-indicating indicia i8, eachindicium being adjacent to and associated with a sighting slot oraperture, the width of which coincides with the apparent diameter of acircle of given diameter when viewed by the archer therethrough at thedistance indicated by said associating indicium. To illustrate, thenormal buils-eye of an archery target is 8 inches in diameter. Thisbulls-eye has an apparent diameter at any given distance, which, ofcourse, is a great deal less than the actual diameter. At 90 feet forinstance, the bulls-eye has an apparent diameter to the eye of thearcher, measurable in fractions of an inch. The sides of one of thegauge-acting slots I! (see Fig. 3) are spaced apart to coincide withthis apparent diameter of the 8 inch bulls-eye when viewed by an archertherethrough (while the same is held at normal average arms length fromthe eye) from a distance of 90- feet. The same is done for a number ofother spaced distances within a given range. Thus, it will be seen, byreference to Figs. 2 and 3, that in the uppermost gauge-acting slot Ii,the sides thereof are spaced the farthest apart, because the apparentdiameter of the 8 inch target will be greatest at the shortest distance,there measured, to wit, 60 feet. Likewise the distance between the sidesof the lower most slots I? is the least, because the apparent diameterof the 8 inch bulls-eye is the smallest from the 160 feet indicated.From the foregoing, it will be seen that, with a bulls-eye of knowndiameter, it is possible by sighting through different of the sightingslots IT, to determine the distance of the target from the archer.Obviously the substantially vertical arrangement of the sightingapertures, with the widest thereof at the top, provides the properelevation of the bow for any one of the indicated distances, as theproper sighting aperture is interposed between the eye of the archer andthe target.

It will also be observed that the edge I6 is so associated with theanchoring structure that it conforms to a plane downwardly divergingfrom the adjacent longitudinal edge I9 of the bowl I when the plate I Iis secured thereto. This divergence of the edge I6 with respect to thelongitudinal edge I3 of the bow is designed to compensate for veerage orlateral deflection of the arrow at in its fight caused by the normaloffcenter relationship of the arrow to the bow during projectiontherefrom by the bow string 3 (see Fig. 3).

As a further aid to the archer in the utilization of my novel sightingplate, I provide an adjustable sighting bead 29 on string 3 which isinterposed between the eye of the archer and any given one of thegauge-acting sighting apertures I 7 and aligned therethrough with thetarget.

For adjustment of the sighting plate II with respect to the bow I, tocompensate for peculiarities of a given bow or weakening of a given bowduring use, the thumb nuts I l-i are loosened and the plate I I is movedeither longitudinally of the bow I or laterally thereof, the markinggrooves 9 and It being used as guides for the edges 2| and 22respectively of the plate II.

In order toprovide sharp definition of the gauge-acting sightingapertures I'I, it will be noted that I preferably taper the edgesthereof as indicated at 23 from the back side of the plate II to providerelatively sharp edges to the side edges of the slots H.

'In the modified form of sighting plate shown in Figs. 7 and 3, asighting plate 24 is shown having laterally-extended mounting slots 25and a tapered sighting slot 26, the sides of which converge from theupper end portion to the lower end portion thereof. The sighting slot 26is adjacent the laterally outwardly projecting edge 21 of plate 24, andspaced range or distance-indicating indicia 28 are vertically arrangedon the intermediate portion of the plate 24. Marking lines 29 areassociated with the indicia 28 and extend laterally across the sightingslot 26. The side edge portions 30 and 3I of the sighting slot 26,adjacent each marking line 29, form sighting apertures and are spacedapart to coincide with the apparent diameter of a given circle whenviewed by the archer at the distance indicated by the indicium. In otherwords, the primary difference between the sighting plates II and 24 isthat, in the former, the side edges of the sighting apertures arevertically spaced, whereas in the latter they are substantiallyhorizontallyspaced.

It will be observed that a line drawn through the longitudinal center ofthe slot 25 conforms to a plane downwardly diverging from the adjacentlongitudinal edge I9 of a bow when the plate 24 is operatively attachedto the bow in the same manner as the side edge I6 of sighting plate II.Here again, this divergence compensates for veerage or lateraldeflection of the arrow in its flight. As shown in Fig. 8, the sideedges 30 and SI of the slot 26 are beveled or tapered, as at 32.

It should be obvious that my sighting plates I I and 2 could be made ofany suitable material, even glass or other transparent sheet material,which will render visible a maximum of the area surrounding the target.

My invention has been thoroughly tested and found to be completelysatisfactory for the accomplishment of the above objects.

What I claim is:

1. In a sighting device for archery bows, a I

sighting plate, means for anchoring said plate to the longitudinalintermediate portion of the bow in a vertical plane with a portionthereof projecting laterally outwardly of one side of the bow,vertically-spaced indicia on said plate indicating from the uppermost tothe lowermost thereof progressively greater distances forwardly thereof,the laterally-projecting side edge of said plate being provided with aplurality of open-ended vertically-spaced gauge-acting sighting slotsthe dis tance between the side edges of which decrease progressivelyfrom the uppermost thereof to the lowermost, each of said slots beingadjacent to and associated with one of said indicia, the inner ends ofsaid slots from the uppermost thereof to the lowermost thereof beingspaced progressively a greater distance from the adjacent side of thebow whereby to compensate for lateral veerage of an arrow by the bow.

2. The structure defined in claim 1 in which the laterally-projectedside edge of said plate is substantially parallel to a line drawnthrough the inner ends of said slots whereby to produce sighting slotsof substantially uniform depth.

3. The structure defined in claim 1 in which said indicia is located onthe laterally-projected portion of said plate intermediate said slotsand the adjacent side edge of the bow.

4. The structure defined in claim 1 in further combination with asighting bead on the bow string above the longitudinal center thereof,said bead being adapted to be visually aligned with the target through aselected one of said slots in Number said sighting plate. 1,818,381FRANK C. STIEBER. 1,989,697

REFERENCES CITED 5 The following references are of record in the Numberfile of this patent: 171 1,505 UNITED STATES PATENTS 18,308 Number NameDate 10 72,284 766,658 Beal Aug. 2, 1904 102,697

Name Date Caruth Aug. 11, 1931 Knisley Feb. 5, 1935 FOREIGN PATENTSCountry Date Great Britain 1852 Great Britain 1915 Great Britain 1914Switzerland May 1, 1916 Australia Dec. 3, 1937

